Which Light Grows Coral Faster? (KESSIL A80 VS. AI PRIME SOL)- Results

The Kessil A80 and the Ai Prime Sol were tested over 8 weeks to see how the same corals responded to each light. Answer is here.
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[@leroycline8849]

Love the videos and all the information I'm gathering from you. Started my first reef tank a week ago. Just patiently waiting.

[@TOMReefer]

Hey Leroy! Great to hear! Keep us posted, and feel free to ask questions 👍🏻😊

[@leroycline8849]

Thanks. I'm sure I will I have no experience in this great journey

[@davidsarda1300]

great video Tom!! I have notice the same, better growth of soft coral with Kessil but better coloration and growth in sps coral with Ai prime..

[@TOMReefer]

Thanks David! Interesting that you have the same result. Probably not all people’s experience will be the same. 👍🏻

[@Lebronjames43273]

Just started reefing a few months ago I have a 15 gallon tank with a clownfish in it, it is completely cycled but what type of coral should I get?

[@TOMReefer]

Hi Brody, most soft corals would be nice. Leather Corals, Xenia, mushrooms, zoanthids. If you surf a few of my vids. You see some examples. Good luck!

[@Lebronjames43273]

@@TOMReefer thank you

[@nicholascarter1948]

I don't have any AI lights but I have multiple castles and they do an amazing job on everything. Soft LPS included even works good on Elegance

[@TOMReefer]

I like the Kessel A80 a lot👍🏻

[@sethkrystal1391]

Hey Tom. What do you have the sol lights set at. And for how long. Can't seem to find what I like. I'm new to the ai lights. Like the look of your settings on the tank

[@TOMReefer]

Hi Seth, for what I’m keeping in the 10 and 20 gallon, I use 60% on all three colors R,B,CW. They ramp up from 8am-11. Then ramp down 6pm-9pm. 👍🏻

[@sethkrystal1391]

Thank you

[@miguelsalty]

This a great comparison video 👌🏻 great job 💪

[@TOMReefer]

Thanks Miguel 😃👍🏻

[@Algaewarrior]

It's been my experience that soft corals like a lot of flow to be happy. Seems like the 10 gallon has a little less flow than the 6 tall. The tanks are looking great!

[@TOMReefer]

Hey AW, agreed, the 10 has less flow 😊thanks! Trying to get rid of some hair algae in the 10😏

[@skypham5187]

What is better for a 48x19 tank? I would need a pair. Just beginner corals

[@TOMReefer]

I like 2 Ai Sol, or! One of each 😊

[@Fleming41st]

Hey thanks for the video would 2 kessell a80 be enough for a 30 gallon tank. Thanks.

[@TOMReefer]

Yes, 2 would work well👍🏻they have enough spread to cover a 30 gallon

[@Fleming41st]

@@TOMReefer thanks bud appretiaye it

[@theurbanartist775]

Would the Kessil a80 be good for a 25 gallon tall? It’s a specialty bubble shape tank (Aquavision c25).

[@TOMReefer]

Hey Urban Artist, it would, but you would need 2 to cover the length (spread) of a 25g👍🏻😊 in the case of your aquavision it would be close. The sides of the bubble might not get much light. If it’s fish only, it would be fine. I just took a closer look, you probably couldn’t fit 2 of any light. If the top is a small opening, which I believe it is, you could only go with one. And actually the a80 or an AI 16HD are round so either would be the perfect light for a small opening👍🏻😊

[@nicholascarter1948]

Kessle a80 is a monster at growing soft corals whether they are SPS mushrooms zoantha's leathers. They all grow fast under a Kessel

[@douglasachaiba7885]

Hi. What is the intensity of your AI prime sol? Getting one in a week on a 20 gallon

[@TOMReefer]

Hi Douglas, right now, over the 10 gallon it’s 60% CW, 45% RY and 35% Blue👍🏻

[@adamkwek5888]

Hi Tom, great video ... more blue light will colour up sps or more white less blue ? How this Jason fox can color the sps so well ?🤩

[@TOMReefer]

Thanks Adam! I’m not sure how he is doing that? If he really is or not? He should have some cool white period during the photo period.

[@joshua_w]

Reef builders visited JF. Runs blue all day. But i wouldn't think that is all it is to colour up corals.

[@TOMReefer]

@@joshua_w his corals are super pricey too 🤪😃

[@chiefreefcorals4446]

Excellent video and great quality

[@TOMReefer]

Thanks Chief Reef! 👍🏻😊

[@cooleyscoral3456]

Great video! Man that 10 gallon peninsula is looking great 👍 also nice thumbnails on the last couple of videos! What editing software do you use for editing and thumbnails? Your channel has inspired me to start my own channel. I have a few videos out just making that first step. Now I’m trying to step up the entertainment and editing quality on these videos. It’s not as easy as it looks so kudos to you on your quality!

[@TOMReefer]

Hey Corey! Yes! The 10 is looking good except for the hair algae I’m dealing with. But it takes time. Good to hear you’re starting a channel! I use photoshop elements to make my thumbnails. Haha, I like the new thumbnails too. Vids are time consuming for sure. And Thanks! Good luck! I’ll have to check in and see how your doing 👍🏻😃

[@zachcaca6083]

What settings do you recommend for the kessil a180? And do you think my tank will be ok if i switch lights?

[@TOMReefer]

Hi Zach, what size tank do you have and what light do you have on there now?😊

[@zachcaca6083]

@@TOMReefer I have a 10 gal water box. It’s a mixed reef with lps, sps, softies. I’m currently running the fluval marine nano light

[@TOMReefer]

@@zachcaca6083 hi Zach, the kessel A180 is a nice light, what I would do with that light over your tank is start about 50% intensity and use more blue light on the color. It also depends on how far away you’re placing your light over your tank. Go slow and increase over time and see how your corals react. If you can get a par meter to see what your par is, that would be great. Either way keep checking your corals to see how they look. 👍🏻

[@zachcaca6083]

@@TOMReefer Ok thank you! Is 50% light intensity half way on the knob?

[@TOMReefer]

@@zachcaca6083 yes 👍🏻 12:00

[@lancelogan2453]

Do you happen to know the par on the prime? Also what are your settings on the prime?

[@TOMReefer]

Hi Lance, the par will vary depending on the depth the light reaches in the water in your tank. In my 20 gallon the par is about 350 near the surface of the water and falls of to about 100 toward the bottom sides. My schedule is listed in the community tab on the Tom Reefer channel page. 😊👍🏻 the prime Sol over my 10 gallon is also listed.

[@Re5p3c7]

Hey Tom. I think it's more than just the light - flow, is what I am thinking - is just another pattern and strength that can play a huge role in coral growth. Good luck with your zoom schooling.

[@TOMReefer]

You’re probably right, among other factors too. 😊👍🏻Thanks!

[@ryan2577p]

If u ever frag your Grande Palys in your 20 gallon, I’d buy a frag from you!! I’m trying to get a collection of the Grandis Palys and I don’t have that variant that you have in your 20 gallon!!

[@arielbalangue6489]

Thanks so much for all of your help bro my reef tank is doing great i run carbon in it to make it crysyal clear some filtreation 😊

[@TOMReefer]

Happy to be helpful! Happy to hear your tank is doing well. 😊

[@paularamos5648]

Kool vid! 😬 yikem good job!!!!

[@TOMReefer]

Johnny, why don’t you get your own KZbin 😃👍🏻Thanks btw👍🏻

[@HCBCHEMISTRY]

I did a video of unboxing the kessil. I just got it a few weeks ago. The light I compared it to was a hydra 26. I do not have the light you have. That said, I do not think you did a good comparison. I think the depth of the tank highly matters, plus the light color. What I do think is that the AI-hydra, has the ability to specialize in different depth levels in the ocean, where as the kessil is built for a broad rang of depths levels. Depending on the color, the blue-er the deeper, and the red/whiter the shallower. Based on that alone the intensity will very. The real question is what coral you want to specialize in, or what coral variety you want to have; and what is your skill level in the hobby. This doesn't even include water flow , shape & size of tank, and other factors. What I do like about the video is how the corals colored upon the choice of light. The comparison of growth was killer. I like how you used similar size frags. For next video, it would be cool, if you show how each frag looks like under the same light (different light), to compare how much they colored up vs the growth.

[@TOMReefer]

Good observations HCB😊👍🏻

[@mitian]

Nice video- thanks

[@TOMReefer]

Hi Mitian, thanks! And thanks for watching👍🏻😊

[@jamesmcfarlandiv3867]

Looks like the sol produces more par than the a80. That would explain why one grows soft corals better and the other sps. Does kessil make a lense for the 80? I just put a 360x over the 14g frameless a few months ago and it's going very well. Mounting height plays a big role. Also I wanted to thankyou for your hygger wavemaker video I was stuck debating to add another nero3 or 2 hygger's and your video helped me decide on the hyggers and man am I glad I did my tenius n milli's r lovin it! I just put em on a timer to shut them off at night.

[@TOMReefer]

Hi James, great choices! Sounds like you got it together there. Can’t beat the kessel shimmer. They have a lens. I believe that’s what produces such a good shimmer. Just keep your huggers clean, and their great 👍🏻😊

[@jamesmcfarlandiv3867]

@@TOMReefer Thankyou very much sir. Im almost there all I got left is the dosing regime that'll be installed within the next couple months. This is my first nano and you are who inspired me to hook it up. I seen your videos with the 3 or 4 little nano's all in the same room looking clean and I thought maybe I should hook 1 of mine up. So keep up the good work cause your inspiring people all over the world.

[@TOMReefer]

@@jamesmcfarlandiv3867 thanks James! I appreciate that! And I’m really glad I inspired you. Nanos are really enjoyable. I’ll be going live this Sunday the 7th. Q/A and some laughs😃11.30am EST USA👍🏻

[@Botzz28]

I got the kessil a360x for my 15g and it’s amazinggggg .. closest you can get to a halide shimmer look .. still waiting to see how it grows corals tho I’ll keep you posted!

[@TOMReefer]

Yes, you can’t beat the Kessil shimmer👍🏻and the 360 is def. a few steps up from the A80👍🏻

[@Botzz28]

@@TOMReefer if your trying to go sps dominant in the peninsula upgrading to the 360 would really help 👍🏻👍🏻

[@tomg5405]

How are the results?

[@Botzz28]

@@tomg5405 kessil lights are incredible if I had to choose the only con it would be their app. It sucks. But once you set it up your never going in the app anyway. The visuals are incredible. Every other LED has that disco ball rgb rainbow effect. Kessils blend the rgb like no other. And the shimmer is gorgeous. Such a clean look. I think the a360x is the best led hands down.

[@dlm1949]

What do you feed your fish?

[@TOMReefer]

San Francisco Bay, marine cuisine

[@WandWizardLLC]

Here we are again hope you are having a great day and weekend sir.

[@TOMReefer]

Yes sir! Thanks for watching! 😃👍🏻

[@rudra7615]

I think corals are products of their environment, light, flow, water conditions and even the bacteria in the water that it would feed on plays a part in the growth. Though kalk is being dosed on both tanks, I'm sure the water conditions would be different...that is unless the same water is circulating between the tanks. I think corals and plants are very similar, where you position a plant, how much sunlight it gets, the fertiliser, the soil..everything plays a role in its growth right? Corals might be the same. I believe this is how it is in nature, even in the oceans the same coral growing in different areas would have a different growth. A great insight though as I've never went down the kessil route and got myself an AI prime 16HD, I've been thinking about upgrading to Hydra instead of another AI prime..did wonder about Kessils but I love the Ai prime's app

[@TOMReefer]

I believe you spot on Rudra. Some of my videos are just playful observations and not completely scientific. But there is something to be said about what light you put over your corals regardless of the rest😊👍🏻

[@jibe4781]

Hi Tom. Interesting comparison, very cool idea. I think only thing, AI led are amazing to setup. But not enough feed back on this. My Sarcophyton love it for the moment. Bye.

[@TOMReefer]

Hi Jibe, yes, also, every reef tank is different. This was just my observation of my corals in my tanks under each light 😊👍🏻

[@HoroHigh369]

The height of the tanks maybe? 🤔

[@TOMReefer]

Hi RA, lots of variables, my main take away was both lights offer a different advantage😊👍🏻

[@BennyBlawnk]

Well one thing is for sure the shimmer that the kessil creates blows the ai out of the water

[@TOMReefer]

Absolutely 👍🏻 Kessil comes closest to a metal halide shimmer.

[@zechariahlemmon8227]

I see why lots of people videos who have diff tanks use diff lighting on theres tanks or multiple diff units

[@TOMReefer]

Agreed Zechariah. 👍🏻😃

[@leroycline8849]

What lighting would you recommend for a 24"L x 12"W x 16"H?

[@TOMReefer]

Hi Leroy, a light that will spread over that length, if you choose a single cluster light, you’ll need two. 👍🏻

[@leroycline8849]

Do you think I could get away with one ai 16 prime?

[@Justin89125]

But it’s not just about your lights your flow could be making a bigger difference over your lights you can’t say for sure the a80 uses a pretty low wattage in the end these are two different classes of lights in my opinion??

[@TOMReefer]

Hi Justin, yes, lots of other variables, not just the lights. 👍🏻

[@Justin89125]

@@TOMReefer wow you really will respond 👍 and on another note your tanks look amazing beautiful growth I see you have some Kenya trees doing very well what is the trick to that I purchased one a few years back that was attached to a rock with a colony of zoas I was wondering if the zoas could a be stunting the growth of my Kenya tree I recently upgraded to two of the kessel a80s on my 55 gallon I originally was using a fluval marine 3.0 and honestly I seen much better growth out of the 3.0 then the a80s i found the Kenya tree was taking to the deeper pinks and purples in the 3.0 for the first year but now that I’m using the a80 the Kenya tree spends alot of time like shrivelled up could it have anything to do with being so close to the zoas and if so and you think it should be moved what are your suggestions on getting the Kenya off the rock I don’t overly want to cut through it’s foot it has a nice thick foot and I no it can stretch I seen it with the fluval can it just be broke off the rock in full ??

[@TOMReefer]

Hi Justin, I always respond. 😃Kenya trees will shrivel up like that from time to time. A few things you might try, I’m not familiar with the fluval 3.0. It was obviously the right light. So I’m not sure if the kessils are too much or not enough? Experiment with the kessils intensity . If you just switched them out in one day, it’s possible just that alone caused the change. 😃like putting a different sun in the sky. Give it time for adjustment. As far as the zoas, they won’t smother. Kenya’s will spread 2 ways, they drop branches to reproduce. In some cases like mine almost weekly. And they will spread, slower, on the rocks. As far as moving it, I would just let it be. It will start dropping branches and they will attach on their own. You could cut branches, however, you then have go through a fragging attachment process. I just let my Kenya’s go, let nature take its course. Eventually, you’ll be removing them because you’ll have too many.😃👍🏻good luck .

[@Justin89125]

@@TOMReefer okay thanks sadly I sold the 3.0 thinking the kessils would be a better option mind you they visually look much better then the 3.0 ever did I’ll play around with them more adjust some settings and maybe the play with the hight of the lights them selfs thank you 🙏

[@TOMReefer]

@Justin89125 exactly! 👍🏻

[@anniejefferson4642]

Ai rock. Kessil great for mood night lights. Have lots of both. Big ai fan

[@TOMReefer]

I’m not thrilled about the noise the new ai Prime 16 HD makes. Really loud in the cooling stage.

[@anniejefferson4642]

@@TOMReefer it shouldnt make any noise at all. Silent. If it is fan is no good. It happens in shipping. These fans are silent.

[@davecarey4710]

Your comparing two different tanks and two different depths. In the 10 gallon it doesn’t have to punch through east much and has a larger spread

[@TOMReefer]

Yea, you’re probably right. Different depths make a difference 👍🏻

[@so_so_reef]

I miss the “peep” at the end of the harmonica intro 😂

[@TOMReefer]

I’ll bring it back for some.😃👍🏻haha

[@amadogonzalez4455]

It’s not a fair comparison. The A80 is a smaller light. The kessil 160we would be a better light to compare to the ai prime. The A80 is 1/4 the power of the Ai prime. The kessil A80 is a 15W light. The Ai prime is a 60w light The kessil 160we is a 40w light So it’s not fair to compare.

[@TOMReefer]

Hi Amado, I wasn’t comparing the two lights the way you are presenting fairness. Just the fact that soft coral under the Kessil A80 were growing faster then that of the Ai Sol, and that the Sol was doing a better job on the SPS. Keep in mind that there are other factors that could have caused the growth along with each of the lights. Just an observation I wanted to share with viewers. 😊👍🏻

[@amadogonzalez4455]

@@TOMReefer The soft corals like lower light. So that coral is happier under the smaller A80. Not going to be happy under the Stronger light ai prime.

[@annebartells777]

Interesting

[@wokest118]

You’re comparing 15w kessil to a 46w ai sol…

[@TOMReefer]

That was my point😊 it wasn’t meant to be a controlled experiment, just an observation 👍🏻

[@arielbalangue6489]

I havent has slime problem for a month thanka to carbon

[@TOMReefer]

Glad to hear it Ariel! 👍🏻

[@arielbalangue6489]

@@TOMReefer sorry dude it's a fan page my real name is Anthony balangue